Cosalt said Mr Ross, non-executive chairman at the Aberdeen-based business, had made a 0.1p a share offer for the company. Cosalt shares fell 0.3 on Thursday to close at 0.48p as investors took fright at Mr Ross's proposal, valued at an 87pc discount to Thursday's opening price. The shares traded as high as 126p in 2007.

The company warned that the proposal from Mr Ross "may or may not lead to an offer being made" but Cosalt's independent directors are likely to face a dearth of alternative options.

Cosalt is still involved in litigation with former employees following an alleged £4.5m fraud last year, while poor trading has seen the company's debt levels soar from £7.3m at the end of August to £12.3m.

Given that backdrop, Mr Ross said Cosalt's public listing "was not appropriate" any more and that without a capital injection "the business will just limp along in perpetuity".

The entrepreneur labelled his plan to take the company private as "the dignified solution" and pledged that should a deal go through he would "provide additional capital investment to expand the group's existing businesses".

Underlining how desperate its position is, Cosalt said it remained in talks with its lenders but that it "may well utilise its available [lending] facilities, of £14.9m, in full before the end of the current financial year."

Mr Ross has himself acted as guarantor to a £3.4m credit facility and put forward a further £1.3m in loans. The carphone founder, whose family has had an interest in Cosalt for over 50 years, owns a 15.1pc stake in the company as the group's second biggest shareholder.

Sovereign Holding, a vehicle of the Rappaport Family Trust, is the company's largest investor with an 18.3pc stake.

Mr Ross stepped down as chairman of Cosalt in 2008 after belatedly disclosing he had pledged shares in Carphone Warehouse as security against personal loans but was subsequently reappointed.